In the past, graphical user interfaces (GUI's) have been supplied as part of computer programs to facilitate the interaction between the user of a program and the program itself. For example, a typical audio player GUI allows a user to interface with the application program. The audio program provides a basic GUI that the user can use as a dialog box to direct the program on how to perform its functions, e.g., play, fast forward, change tracks, etc. A dialog is essentially an interface that allows the user to communicate with the program, e.g. the common dialog boxes of Microsoft Windows 98™.
Furthermore, additional graphical user interfaces, commonly referred to as skins are available to “cover” the basic graphical user interface supplied by the program. These “skins” serve as a GUI that replaces the basic graphical user interface supplied with the program. These skins can be supplied as optional GUI's with the program itself or by third parties. The skin provides the user with options other than the standard graphical user interface supplied with the program. Thus, the user can choose a skin that appeals to that user's personal preferences.
Such GUI's have in the past been expandable such that all of the features expand or compress, e.g., as is commonly done by pulling on the corner of a dialog box. Such expansion or compression results in a proportional change in the spatial relationships of the entire box, for example, through stretching, expansion or compression of the entire box. Thus, depending on how the GUI is stretched, expanded or compressed, various components of the skin can become distorted. Consequently, if the skin contains a logo, a trademark, copyrightable subject matter, artwork, etc. the act of expanding the entire skin can result in a distortion of content of the skin. Such distortion is undesirable when the creator of the skin desires to maintain certain aspects of the appearance of the GUI regardless of how the remainder of the GUI is altered.